Battle Story: Blenheim 1704

By James Falkner

Blenheim has gone down in history as one of the turning points of the War of the Spanish Succession – and some would say in the history of conflict in Europe. The overwhelming Allied victory ensured the safety of Vienna from the Franco-Bavarian army, thus preventing the collapse of the Grand Alliance. Bavaria was knocked out of the war, and Louis's hopes for a quick victory came to an end. France suffered over 30,000 casualties including the commander-in-chief, Marshal Tallard, who was taken captive to England. Before the 1704 campaign ended, the Allies had taken towns on the Moselle in preparation for the following year's campaign into France itself. It was a brilliant victory for Marlborough, which involved a lightning march of over 250 miles and superb deception – even of his own Dutch allies! Blenheim must be one of the most well known battles – because of Blenheim Palace – but few know why.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Sep 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9780750957830

Book preview

CONTENTS

Title

Introduction

Timeline

Historical Background

The Armies at Blenheim

Overview

The allied Army – Anglo-Dutch and Imperial Austrian

The French and Bavarian Army

Battle Tactics and Drills

Who was Who at Blenheim?

The Weeks Before the Battle

The French and Bavarian Threat to Vienna

The Great March up the Rhine

Marlborough, Baden and Prince Eugene Combine

The Hill of the Bell

The Battle of Blenheim: Wednesday 13 August 1704

Preparations for Battle

The Battle Begins – the Assault on Blindheim Village

Prince Eugene’s Attack

The French in Disarray

Marlborough’s Great Attack

The Final Act in Blindheim

After the Battle

The Spoils of Victory

The Pursuit

Marlborough – the Hero of the Hour

Orders of Battle

French Officers ‘of note’ Taken Prisoner at Blenheim

Bibliography and Further Reading

Copyright

INTRODUCTION

The Battle of Blenheim, or Höchstädt as it is often known in Europe, was fought on Wednesday 13 August 1704 beside the River Danube on the northern edge of Bavaria. In the course of a bitterly contested afternoon and evening, the allied troops led by John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, and his friend and colleague Prince Eugene of Savoy, destroyed one major French field army and routed another, driving it from the field in flight. The strategic war plans of King Louis XIV of France were in ruins as a result, and such a crushing victory over a French army in the field was the wonder of the age. French military power, which for many generations had seemed to be all-dominant, was curbed; the scene had changed dramatically and it was clear that nothing in western Europe would ever be quite the same again after Blenheim.

The allied army led by Marlborough and Eugene comprised some 52,000 troops drawn from Great Britain, Holland, Austria and Denmark, together with large numbers of soldiers from smaller German states such as Prussia, Hanover, Saxony and Hesse. Their slightly more numerous French and Bavarian opponents, 56,000-strong, were under the command of Marshals of France Tallard and Marsin, and their ally Maximilien Wittelsbach, the Elector of Bavaria. The great contest between the armies took place on a gently rolling plain nearly four miles wide, stretching from the marshy edge of the Danube across lush cornfields to the wooded hills of the Swabian Jura. Amongst the booty that fell into allied hands as a result of their success were almost 12,000 French and 2,000 Bavarian unwounded prisoners, including dozens of officers of senior rank. Such a catastrophe for France was unthinkable and unprecedented, and the shock and disbelief which greeted this wholly unexpected outcome had an effect on the conduct of the war being fought for the throne of Spain that is impossible to overstate. Carefully crafted alliances were strengthened or shattered, depending upon which side of the tactical hill one stood, and Marlborough was rightly acknowledged for all time as one of the great captains in history, a true ‘master of the field’.

King Louis XIV of France, the Sun King. His campaign to seize Vienna and drive Austria out of the war ended with the defeat at Blenheim.

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, c. 1704.

The reputation of England (Great Britain from the Act of Union in 1707 onwards) as a military power to be reckoned with was established that day, with a remarkable extension of the reach and influence of Queen Anne and her ministers and generals. The previous invincibility of French armies and the renowned Marshals of France, carefully built up over the previous eighty years, was swept away and would not be fully re-established for 100 years or so; as a result a balance of power in Europe, with no one state able to dominate all others at will was achieved. The Battle of Blenheim can, accordingly, be seen as one of the very few real turning points in history, a decisive moment; the fact that it was the culmination of a daring campaign fraught with risk and a fierce and finely balanced contest on the field of battle with all to play for, adds to the enduring fascination of the story.

Maximilien-Emmanuel Wittelsbach, the Elector of Bavaria, Louis XIV’s ally in 1704 and governor general of the Spanish Netherlands.

TIMELINE

Note on dating: In the early eighteenth century, the Julian calendar (Old Style or O.S.) was still in use in the British Isles, whereas on the Continent the Gregorian calendar (New Style or N.S.) was used. This ‘new’ system was ten days ahead of the old one up to 1700, and eleven days ahead thereafter. As the British adopted the N.S. later in the century, and almost all the narrative takes place on the Continent, N.S. dating has been used throughout this book.

HISTORICAL

BACKGROUND

The War of the Spanish Succession was fought to determine who should sit on the throne in Madrid, once the semi-invalid King Carlos II had died in November 1700. That monarch had no obvious immediate successor, and in his will he named Philippe, Duc d’Anjou – the younger grandson of King Louis XIV of France – as his heir. The problem that this caused was obvious, as such an apparent extension of French influence over the wide and immensely wealthy Spanish Empire would alarm all other states in western Europe, many of whom had suffered at the hands of the Sun King and his military commanders over the preceding decades as the borders of France were extended and strengthened. An additional difficulty was that the younger son of the Emperor Leopold I in Vienna, the Archduke Charles, also had as good a claim to the throne as the young Frenchman.

The quandary for Louis XIV was that if the offer to his grandson was refused, it would then immediately be made to Archduke Charles who would almost certainly accept. In that case, the old French concern at the Habsburg encirclement (with potentially hostile armies to the south in the Iberian peninsula, to the eastwards across the Rhine where many German princes and Electors owed allegiance to the Emperor, and to the north from the populous and affluent Spanish Netherlands – today’s Belgium and Luxembourg), would re-awaken. This could not be tolerated in Versailles, memories were long and it was less than fifty years or so ago that Spanish armies had come to within forty miles of the gates of Paris. In the genuine dilemma that he faced, the French king felt that he must allow his grandson to accept, while offering sufficient reassurance to his neighbours that their own interests would not be put in jeopardy. Compensation would be made to the Archduke Charles for any disappointed hopes of becoming king in Spain, with an important commitment that the thrones of France and Spain would always be kept separate, and commercial concessions in the Spanish Empire would be offered to England and Holland. With a little care, everyone should be able to be satisfied.

On 16 November 1700, Louis XIV announced that the offer of the throne of Spain was accepted by his grandson, and the Duc de St Simon remembered the dramatic and historic scene at Versailles, where the King addressed his courtiers:

Contrary to all precedent, the King caused the double doors of his cabinet [private chambers] to be thrown open, and ordered all the crowd assembled without to enter (it was a very full Court that day); then, glancing majestically over the numerous company, ‘Gentlemen,’ said he indicating the Duc d’Anjou ‘this is the King of Spain’.

The Spanish envoy at Versailles was then invited to kneel and kiss the hand of his new King. With some neat diplomatic footwork all might have been well, and messages were sent to The Hague, Vienna and London with assurances that their interests were not now at risk, while territorial concessions in northern Italy were offered to Austria as compensation for the Archduke. Both William III of England and the States-General in The Hague accepted the assurances given, and acknowledged the Duc d’Anjou (Philip V) as King in Madrid, although Emperor Leopold remained reluctant to do so. Certainly no one on either side of the vexed question of the succession really sought renewed war after the conflicts and expenses of the previous decade (the Nine Years War), but, surprisingly for someone usually so politically sure-footed, Louis XIV now fumbled things badly and seemed incapable of avoiding meddling in Spanish affairs. In February 1701 he sent French troops into the Southern Netherlands to take possession of a number of important towns and fortresses. He clearly regarded this as simply protecting his grandson’s inheritance with reliable French troops, but those same towns (Luxembourg, Mons, Namur, Oudenarde, Ath and Nieupoort) formed the cherished Barrier for the Dutch, agreed by solemn treaty, to protect against any future French aggression. There was no fighting or bloodshed, and the Elector of Bavaria, who was also the governor-general of the

Reviews for Battle Story

[jcbrunner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This Pen & Sword's Battleground title is a handy travel guide to the battle of Blenheim with splendid b/w and color illustrations and a good account of the battle, the campaign and a walking tour. I particularly like the annotated in situ photographs which highlight the command difficulties on a plain. With a better vantage point, Tallard's misallocation of his infantry might have been corrected and defeat turned into victory. If I had to choose between taking the Osprey title or this booklet on a tour; I'd pick this one. Unfortunately, the maps of both titles do not drill down far enough, so there is still a need for an accurate battle map.